Earning a fortune
A report from his mother’s spy network puzzles Shang Yi Fan. Shang Xin Ci has spent her entire hundred thousand on rank one dog enslavement Gu, rank two paper crane Gu, and rank one exploding egg Gu, a purchase no experienced trader would make. His mother’s subordinate Old Zhang, rank three peak stage and capable enough that Yi Fan treats him with real respect, reports the reason. Entering the yellow pillar, King Quan’s inheritance, now requires a refined dog enslavement Gu; the blue pillar, King Xin’s, requires a paper crane Gu; and the red pillar, King Bao’s, requires at least one exploding egg Gu. Yi Fan realizes at once why Fang and Bai bought so heavily: every one of the three Gu in the city now belongs to Shang Xin Ci. He searches for a rule she broke and finds none. Spending more than her hundred thousand up front is a curveball but not against the rules, and his own reliance on his mother’s resources is worse. Old Zhang counsels patience, that their own trading and his mother’s influence should still deliver at least six hundred thousand in three months. Yi Fan’s earlier confidence curdles into worry all the same. ch. 324
The narration then traces the three kings back three hundred years, to the last surviving children of Wang clan after Wu clan wiped it out. An eight year old boy became King Quan, a six year old girl became King Xin, and a five year old boy became King Bao. A lazy assassin faked their deaths rather than hunt three young children. The three grew up together in hardship, their bond deepening even as revenge against the far stronger Wu clan looked impossible. While gathering herbs to survive, they fell into an ancient inheritance ground left by a mysterious rank six Gu Immortal. Each inherited a portion of it, training for nearly a hundred years until all three reached rank five. They then struck Wu clan directly with no scheme at all: King Quan’s hound army overran the village, King Xin killed the clan’s leadership in the chaos, and King Bao’s raw power shook the mountains, wiping Wu clan out in three days at heavy cost to themselves. Feeling that revenge had emptied their lives of purpose, the three declined to rebuild Wang clan. They vanished into seclusion, unheard from again until this inheritance appeared. Word spreads through Shang clan city of King Quan’s at least three rank five dog enslavement Gu, said to enslave countless beast kings into a conquering army, and of King Xin’s refined paper crane Gu, which found the security gap that let the assault on Wu clan succeed. Prices on all three entry Gu triple as buyers scramble to afford them. ch. 324
